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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23114893">Mutual Aid</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowstarKanada/pseuds/ShadowstarKanada'>ShadowstarKanada</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>ReBoot (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:14:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,642</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23114893</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowstarKanada/pseuds/ShadowstarKanada</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Well, you didn't think they'd assign a cadet to Mainframe, did you?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Mutual Aid</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The two sprites collided outside of Turbo's office, almost a hundred reports on various datapads clattering down onto the hard gold and silver icon image set into the marbled surface. "Sorry," muttered the Guardian as he knelt and started trying to grab his files.</p><p>Exactly one of the datapads now tiling the floor belonged to Dot. "Perfect. Just <em>perfect</em>." The businesswoman stared down in dismay for half a nano before she got down to the floor beside the chrome haired young man to look through the files herself. "Why couldn't you just watch where you were going?" she asked, her voice filled with misplaced anger.</p><p>"I <em>said </em>I was sorry," he said, looking over at her with annoyance which turned to confusion readily enough. "Hey. I know you," said Bob. "Dot Matrix. From... where was it..."</p><p>Her eyes rose sharply at the unwelcome recognition, but her face softened considerably as she recognized him. She'd imagined the face of the young man who'd comforted her after the explosion often enough. "Mainframe," she said, and offered an embarrassed smile that didn't quite reach her eyes; she wished suddenly that she hadn't yelled at him. "Bob, right? I'm sorry, I just got out of a meeting that didn't go well."</p><p>Bob looked over at the door. "With the Prime Guardian?"</p><p>Dot nodded and threw a frustrated look over her shoulder. "We must have filled out a thousand forms. I don't even think they read them. I thought if I came here in person, I could convince him to help," she said with a shake of her head, "but I guess you Guardians are too busy for that." She picked up a few of the file pads, checking them before handing them over to Bob, who was frowning, his brows pulled together in a somewhat distressed and confused sort of manner. "What's all this for?" asked Dot. "New set of forms for people like us to fill in?"</p><p>"No," he said. "Well, maybe it'll end up that way, I don't..." He added the files she offered him to the stack with a quick nod of thanks and picked up one of the pads that seemed a bit different from the others, glancing at it briefly. His curiousity was clearly getting the better of him. "Uh... too busy to help you with <em>what</em>?"</p><p>The door opened behind them before Dot could reply. "Bob," came a stern yet slightly exasperated voice behind them. "You can talk to civilians later. I need those reports."</p><p>"Sorry, Turbo," said Bob, looking up with a strained smile. "I'll be right there." He looked back at Dot with a shrug and pulled all the files together, standing quickly.</p><p>Dot's shook her head and reached out, but Bob brushed past her in his rush. "<em>Wait</em>, Bob, one of those is—"</p><p>"Sorry, gotta go. Let's talk later?" he called, an automatic lock clicking as metal slid against metal behind him.</p><p>"But you've got my <em>organizer</em>," she said to the uncaring door in both disbelief and anger, clenching her fists in frustration. Why was this happening to her? Without that organizer, she couldn't even get transport back to Mainframe!</p><p>She took a deep breath and looked over at the Prime Guardian's administrator, who offered her an insincere if polite smile. "Lost property requires forms 31 and 76. Filed in triplicate. You can pick them up down the hall."</p><p>Dot closed her eyes and tried to hold onto her temper. Forms. The Supercomputer cared more about <em>forms </em>than getting anything done, and once she had those forms, there was still no guarantee that they would help her. If she got <em>stuck </em>on this User-forsaken system... She opened her eyes and looked back at the door, her face tightening. "I see," she said with clipped tones.</p><p>"Have a nice day, miss."</p>
<hr/><p>"So, in summary," said Bob, "web incursions are still well within expected limits, but game activity is increasing in many of the outer reaches of the net."</p><p>Turbo nodded and tapped a finger, looking at one of the charts the younger Guardian had given to him, then put it down and was quiet for a while. Bob bit the inside of his cheek and tried to keep himself from fidgeting. "It's good work," Turbo said finally. "Very... <em>clinical</em>. But I have to admit, I was expecting something a little different from you."</p><p>The blue sprite glanced at his keytool, then looked at Turbo. "Well, sir, Glitch and I thought that if I was a bit more... <em>by the book </em>I might get a real assignment." He smiled, trying to keep his nerves down. "Look, I like going to different systems, Turbo, I really do, but... wouldn't I be more helpful if I were stationed somewhere?"</p><p>Turbo frowned at him. "Bob, we've discussed this—"</p><p>"So let's discuss it again." He leaned forward, putting his arm on the table so that Glitch was right there with him. "I'm a full Guardian, and I've got a keytool. How many more of these <em>cadet-level </em>missions are you going to make me do? It's a waste of resources, leaving Glitch and I on the back lines like this." Turbo rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes for a nano. "Glitch chose to bond with me, whether the Council of Guardians likes it or not."</p><p>"They <em>don't </em>like it, and they don't like <em>you</em>," interjected Turbo. "Your radical ideas are a better fit for a classroom, Bob. In a real system, people will get hurt." He leaned back in his seat, his face stony.</p><p>Bob's eyes widened and his face fell. He stared at the Prime in shock. "You used to champion my ideas," said the young sprite with a shake of his head. "You said my work was <em>inspiring</em>. You said you <em>liked </em>my research paper."</p><p>"<em>As </em>research," said Turbo.</p><p>Bob slumped back into his chair. "So Dixon was right," he said quietly, and Turbo's eyes narrowed slightly. "I wouldn't have passed the finals if Glitch hadn't bonded to me, and I'm never going to get a real posting."</p><p>Turbo sighed and lost the focus in his eyes. "Look, Bob, there's nothing wrong with research. Some sprites just aren't meant to be the main protector of a system."</p><p>"I became a Guardian because I wanted to <em>help </em>people. I aced the game portions of the trials, I know the protocols and apply them correctly—"</p><p>"All except one," said Turbo, "and that one is a doozy." Turbo shook his head. "Until you're willing to renounce your pacifism, the council is not going to give you a permanent posting. Or any posting on your own, for that matter."</p><p>Bob shook his head slightly, looking down at Glitch. The keytool understood, supported him. He wished he had that kind of support from the rest of the collective. Maybe true understanding was only possible when you shared code.</p><p>Turbo sighed. "Bob... look, you're a good kid, and you can be a great Guardian. The thing is, cadets get strange ideas sometimes. We like to promote those ideas, it leads to better lateral thinking skills. Most cadets grow out of them. You didn't. Some of the council think that maybe..."</p><p>Bob looked up cautiously. "Maybe what?"</p><p>Turbo gave Bob the kind of smile that said he knew he was about to enter dangerous territory. "They think that maybe you're stuck. Now, Bob, that wouldn't be your fault, but you still haven't agreed to talk to anyone about what happened with Dixon—"</p><p>"What's there to say? She decompiled because that <em>execution </em>went wrong." Bob shook his head and stood up. "I'm not <em>stuck </em>on something, I'm just principled. Viruses can be reprogrammed. Even if the User made them like that, there's no reason they have to be like that forever. We can repair them." He crossed his arms over his chest. "You know, if we had another option, she might not have been deleted at all."</p><p>"Bob, you <em>know </em>that's not true," said Turbo, a conciliatory note in his voice. He stood and walked over to Bob, trying to put a hand on the younger Guardian's shoulder, but Bob shrugged him away. "The viral upgrade was separate from the execution. If it was connected to anything, it was that little system playing with unregistered portals."</p><p>"Mainframe," said Bob. He looked at the desk and picked the odd file format up. <em>Hers</em>. The pretty Dot Matrix, the girl who'd asked for help and recieved none. He wondered what Mainframe needed. "Is that why we're rejecting their requests? Because they were playing with things they didn't understand?"</p><p>Turbo frowned and shook his head. "There's a bigger picture, Bob."</p><p>Bob looked at the bigger Guardian with a challenging look in his eyes. "A bigger picture where I can't get posted anywhere because people might get hurt? Come on, Turbo. You're the Prime Guardian. Can't you overrule the Council on this?"</p><p>"Bob, I care about you. Do you have <em>any </em>idea— no, you don't." He shook his head. "No. I'm not sending you into a system with two viruses at each other's throats. If you're not willing to give up on viral reformation, then the next mission I assign you will be another research survey." Bob shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but Turbo cut him off. "The discussion is over. Take a few minutes to decide. You're dismissed."</p><p>Bob grit his teeth for a nano, then nodded and saluted formally. "Yes, sir," he said, then walked out of the office, an indignant displeasure evident in each marching step he took.</p>
<hr/><p>He found her in one of the ubiquitous coffee shops nearby the Guardian offices. She had threeempty cups in front of her, obviously starting on her fourth as she struggled through some form or other. Bob grabbed a cup for himself before sitting down across from her.</p><p>"Hey, Dot," he said with a smile that he hoped said <em>confidence</em>. "I, uh, think you dropped this." He put the organizer on the table and slid it over to her.</p><p>She looked up with surprise and gave him a smile full of relief. "Bob! I didn't think I was going to get this back. I don't know what I can do to thank you..." She looked down and put the forms together. "I can trade you for these, if you'd like. A little used, <em>not </em>yet in triplicate. Unusual in this system, could be worth a fortune."</p><p>"Hard pass," he said with a nod.</p><p>"Your loss," she replied with a laugh. "At least I won't be trying to scrounge up bitcoin to get back home now." She paused and her face fell. "Home... I still don't know how I'm going to explain this to Phong. I was so sure that if I talked to the Prime Guardian in person, he'd help us."</p><p>Bob nodded carefully. "Maybe he can't help <em>officially</em>. You know, without forms in triplicate."</p><p>"Oh?" Dot tilted her head. "You think he might help <em>unofficially</em>?"</p><p>Bob shrugged. "Well, I'm here. That's unofficial," he said, downing the Java to cover his unease at lying to the woman in front of him. Well, he wasn't quite lying, just not telling the truth. That was different, wasn't it? Not even as bad as telling a cadet you liked his research because it promoted <em>lateral thinking</em>. This was just that: lateral thinking, solving several problems at once. "He said there were two viruses," said Bob, fishing for information.</p><p>"Hexadecimal and Megabyte," said Dot with a nod. "We don't know when Hexadecimal showed up, but she's taken over the old Twin City structures. Or what's left of them, anyways. She seems pretty random, we never know what to expect from her, though so far she hasn't done anything too damaging, at least, not to <em>us</em>. Megabyte arrived after a document was downloaded into the system. It's been less than an hour, and he's taken over almost the whole manufacturing sector, G-Prime. We're pretty sure he's got a whole army set up, too." She paused. "He probably told you that already."</p><p>Bob nodded.</p><p>"I know we're a small system, and we can't offer much, but what we <em>do </em>have is yours if you need it. A place to live, as much energy as you need... our credit system isn't the same as here in the Supercomputer, but we can probably—"</p><p>"I don't think I need bitcoin," he said. "If I were living in Mainframe, it would just make sense to use whatever you use there." He smiled, and she did too. She looked like she'd hit the jackpot. "The only thing," he said after a moment, "is that we have to leave Turbo out of it."</p><p>Her eyebrows curved together in confusion. "What do you mean?"</p><p>"Like I said, he can't help officially. He can't get this assignment through the Council— that's the group that regulates the Guardians— so we need to keep him in the dark about it."</p><p>Dot looked a little taken aback. "Well, I suppose we don't have to say thank you, but it seems a little unusual."</p><p>"It's a little more than that." Bob tapped his feet under the table. Dot raised her eyebrows at the shaking table and Bob took a deep breath and stopped his nervous movements. "We would need to pretend that I'm not there," he said.</p><p>"You mean we'd have to lie to your boss?" Bob nodded. Glitch clicked at him and he turned to see a few Guardian cadets with their supervisors coming into the shop, one of them looking in the direction of Bob and Dot's table for a nano before turning her attention back to the cadets. "That's <em>really </em>unofficial," she said hesitantly as he starting bouncing his leg again. She took an uncomfortable breath in, then reached over and put her hand on his, squeezing it slightly. It surprised him enough to still him. "And you think that would be a... <em>forever </em>sort of arrangement?" she asked quietly. "Or would we be a bit more open about it sometime in the future?"</p><p>"I'm not sure. It might be indefinite," admitted Bob.</p><p>Dot nodded pensively. Looking down into her coffee to be a little more alone with her thoughts, Bob watched as the pretty face in front of him went visibly from emotion to emotion, a little too quickly for him to recognize each one distinctly. Finally, she looked up, then glanced over at the other Guardians and leaned in close to him. "Are you running? Have you done something wrong?" she asked as quietly as she could, staring into his eyes as though she could read his thoughts through them.</p><p>"No," he said, truthfully, trying to convince the woman in front of him, then paused and grinned sheepishly. "Well... <em>this</em>, maybe."</p><p>Dot let out a short laugh and released his hand, backing away. "You're a good sprite, you know that?" She regarded him with a fond smile, then tapped her organizer. "It was really nice seeing you again, Bob," she said. "I need to get going, my transport to Mainframe leaves in ten nanos. You could come with me to the port, if you'd like."</p><p>Bob shook his head. "I've got some things I need to get done. Turbo's sending me off on another survey in a few minutes, and that's not much time. I pack light, but there are things I like to keep with me."</p><p>Dot nodded. "If you ever find a reason to be in Mainframe again, look me up. Dot's Diner, best fast food in the system." She paused and gave him a grin. "Best fast food in the <em>net</em>."</p><p>"Big promises."</p><p>"The only kind I make."</p><p> </p><p>Two minutes later, when Bob arrived in Mainframe, he had to admit: of all the fast food he'd tried in all the systems he'd surveyed, hers really was the best.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Some silly thoughts: </p><p>1. Bob rarely goes to the Supercomputer. In fact, during most of the early series it seems as though he has no communication at all with the rest of the Guardians. Even though it seems as though he could get stuff if he went there, and it wouldn't take long (The Tearing), and he often doesn't have enough to work with in Mainframe (The Medusa Bug).<br/>2. Bob complains Turbo would have deleted Hex when she first arrived, so his "save the viruses" mission (which doesn't gel all that well with the first two seasons anyways, Bob puts Megabyte in a virus decompiling chamber for goodness sake) can't have been sanctioned.<br/>3. Turbo sends Mouse to find out about the web creature. He doesn't ask the resident Guardian about it, just sends a hacker. Yes, she was rigged with a bomb, but he doesn't try to get Bob out of the system despite him and Bob "going back a long way." And even after that, Bob's like, sure, we can transfer Enzo to the Supercomputer when all this is over. Bob wut. Bob no. Or maybe "Nooooooo!"</p><p>Well, anyways. Hopefully this is a new take on an old subject.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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